VIDEO: Cold Milling in Sports Hub of the Eternal City
Tue August 08, 2023 - National Edition #18 Wirtgen Group
Built in 1927 as Stadio dei Cipressi (Cypress Stadium), the Stadio Olimpico has hosted a wide variety of major events, from the Summer Olympic Games and concerts to the 2020 European Cup.
The stadium in the center of Rome has now been the scene of extensive renovation work. Wirtgen supplied a W 200 Fi for the project, and the cost-efficient, resource-friendly cold milling machine impressed with outstanding flexibility, speed and outstanding performance.
The high-performance Wirtgen W 200 Fi cold milling machine at work on the renovation of the athletics track in Rome's Olympic Stadium.
Level Pro Active Guarantees Precise Cross-Slope
The renovation was commissioned to prepare the sporting facilities in time for the 26th European Athletics Championships in 2024. The resurfacing of the athletics track followed on from the modernization of the stadium for Euro 2020 (the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship).
The first step involved the removal of the synthetic track surface — also known as "tartan track". The upper asphalt layer below this was then milled off with a Wirtgen W 200 Fi cold milling machine and given the appropriate cross-slope for the new surface layer.
In automatic mode, the MILL ASSIST machine control system of the W 200 Fi ensures the most favorable balance between performance and operating costs. This not only increases milling performance, but also reduces diesel fuel, water, and pick consumption, and CO2 emissions.
Efficient Track Drainage Provides Ideal Conditions for Competitive Athletics
The so-called cross-slope, barely perceptible to the human eye, is essential for optimal water drainage from the track surface and is extremely important for runners. The resurfacing process followed in reverse order.
A new layer of asphalt was placed on top of the remaining base layer. This was followed by an elastic layer, and then the later visible wear layer, consisting of EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber) and PUR (polyurethane). Here, high quality paving of the asphalt sub-base is essential for ensuring the evenness and surface quality of the tartan track.
During the milling of the upper asphalt layer, the Wirtgen LEVEL PRO ACTIVE leveling system ensured the desired precision of the cross-slope on the athletics track.
Tight Schedule Demands High-Performance Machine With Digital Assistance System
Since the whole project was on a very tight schedule, the asphalt removal needed to be completed within the space of two days, during which uncompromising quality of the milled surface had to be guaranteed. In view of this, the lead contractor chose to use a high-performance W 200 Fi large milling machine fitted with Mill Assist as a standard feature.
"The machine brings us the high speed and reliability we need. The automatic programs make our colleagues' work easier, improve efficiency, and therefore also helps to reduce environmental impact. It's exactly what we need for our projects," said lead contractor Schiavi S.r.l's project manager.
The milling team on the athletics track milled off the surface strip-by-strip. The big challenge here was getting a sufficient number of trucks onto the site to remove the enormous quantities of milled material this produced. With ideal logistics, a 2-meter class cold milling machine can mill off and transfer more than 9,568 sq. yd. of surface layer material to trucks for removal from the site in a single day.
On this project, the logistical situation was extremely challenging, as the limited space inside the stadium made it difficult to drive the trucks in and get them into position. However, the "compact" model among the large milling machines not only delivers powerful performance, but also is extremely agile, which meant that maneuverability was no problem at all.
This made it possible to complete the milling work within only one working day, including the removal of the milled material from the project site.
Schiavi S.r.l. chose to use a W 200 Fi for the project due to its tight schedule.
Site Statistics
The surface area of the athletics track to be milled amounted to a total of around 4,784 sq. yd., 2,990 sq. yd. of which were running track and 1,794 sq. yd. infield areas. The W 200 Fi cold milling machine milled off the surface layer to a depth of .4 to .8 in.
